One of the beautiful things about new experiences are the new relationships you form. Indeed, for an experience to be enjoyable, relationships are one of those necessary elements. Well, I enjoyed several new relationships during my time in Brazil, and it was time to start saying farewell to some of the more significant people I had met during my trip.
At around 4am I woke up to go to the airport with Uncle Doug, Aunt Renate, William, and Destiny. We took Destiny to an airport just down the road where she would leave to fly back home. It was so sad to see her leave! She was the one who had been with us the least amount of time, and we weren’t ready to let her go!
It took awhile, but we finally got all her baggage checked and sent her on her way. William and I watched as she walked out onto the tarmac to her plane, and then the Reiner’s joined us to watch the plane take off. Exhausted both physically and emotionally, we all headed back to the Reiner household and fell back into our beds.
After sleeping in, I woke up to do a little packing and read some more from the book of Acts for my devos. I think I was in Acts 20 where Paul said farewell to a group of pastors before heading to Jerusalem, knowing he would probably never see those men again.
The passage was so appropriate for the day, and it made me even sadder! But just as Paul was doing what he knew God wanted him to do, I needed to follow God back home.
For breakfast we ate manioc cake, sweet bread, French rolls with fried cheese and raspberry jam. Man, it was so good! I had those various foods on multiple occasions during my trip, and I loved them all.
We finished eating, packed up our stuff, and I took a few pictures of the place before joining Danae and Uncle Jim and Aunt Julie in their little Fiat. We bid farewell to the Reiner’s and reluctantly drove out of their place.
We left Petrolina, and after awhile Danae was given a turn to drive in the Brasilian countryside. She had declined the invitation to pilot the car the week before, but this time she got behind the wheel and did a great job bringing us closer to our destination, good ol’ Crato in the Cariri Valley.
Along the way we stopped for an amazing meal of goat, beef, chicken, rice, beans, fried macaxeira, noodles, and cajuina. Oh man, I ate so much. I would not get a meal like that again for a very long time, so I enjoyed it until I was too full to enjoy anymore. Meanwhile the four of us enjoyed some good conversation as we reflected back on the events of the last 4-5 weeks.
We resumed driving, and at one point along the way we came upon an interesting phenomenon. There were some large mountains in front of us that Uncle Jim described as magnetic mountains.
There was no one else on the road around us, so he brought the car to a complete stop on the highway, and a few seconds later, we started to move in reverse! In fact, we were going down an incline, so gravity should have pulled us down. But rather, the magnetic field of the mountains was repelling us back up the road! CrAzY!
Some time later we also saw a humorous sight. In front of us was a motorcycle moving slowly, and it appeared to have three people on it. Sure enough, as we passed it, we saw three men on the bike, and they gave us strange looks as we passed them. It was hilarious.
A few hours later we arrived safe and sound back at the Sitio de Alegre at the seminary in Crato. Home sweet home! Oh how I loved that little place that had become a home to me in only a few weeks.
After a chili supper we went shopping for some groceries and some food that Danae and I would bring back home to the states. I drooled over the stacks and stacks of cajuina and guarana at the stores. I wanted to bring loads of them back!
Alas, such a feat is impossible, so I opted for a few small bottles of cajuina and some cans of dulce de lece that I absolutely loved.
That night I packed up rest of my stuff and got it ready for my upcoming flight. Crato was merely a short pit stop on our way to Fortaleza. I slept one last time in my bed at Seminario Batista do Cariri, and the next day the four of us would travel once again.
As the service got underway, Uncle Doug got up and introduced our Aventura Brasil team to the congregation, and Danae and I picked up on a good portion of his Portuguese as he told the church how he hoped we would return to Brasil and stay there. Of course, we laughed a lot because he is so animated and humorous, but I also wished that I would indeed have an opportunity to come back someday. But only God knows when and for how long it might be.
As we got up to sing, I was overwhelmed. Not by the number of people- crowds don’t scare me. Not by the task at hand- we had done this three times already at three different churches. Not by weariness- I was full of energy. No, I was overwhelmed by the significance of the moment. Here, at the end of seven weeks, I was standing with three other people who I had become close to over the last several days, and we were about to expend ourselves one last time in a ministry setting before heading home.
For supper we went to a bustling pizza restaurant and enjoyed pizza and guarana. Of course, like a good American, I ate my pizza sans ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, even though the opportunity presented itself. I just couldn’t bring myself to ruin such a good piece of food, so I saved the condiments for those who like it.